Williams vs Middlebury
Hey guys,
I am a senior and I will be applying to colleges very soon. I know that this is a bit unconventional to talk about here, but I am currently having great difficulty choosing where I will apply to through early decision. My two top choices are Williams and Middlebury. I know that I'll fit into the environment there easily, so its difficult to chose between them.
Every time I try to pick one, this one statistic comes up: their early decision acceptance rates. Even though Williams provides excellent resources and opportunities, their ed acceptance rate is ~35%. Whereas, Middlebury's ed acceptance rate is ~50% with arguably lower resources, opportunities, and prestige.
I am very lost. I don't know if I am looking at this the right way. I, in the far future, would like to work in HF through the traditional process (2 yrs in IBD and then to HF) most likely. And any help would be greatly appreciated!
If anyone was wondering about stats:
UW GPA: 3.7
Transcript consists of all rigorous classes
SAT: 1470 (I will be taking it again in Aug. and I'm confident in breaking 1500)
First gen. low income Asian (Indian)
Impressive and Unique extracurriculars.
There’s only one right answer here....
Kentucky Mountain Bible College or bust.
Your stats may not fit their requirements, but I would make the push. Legends are born here.
I’d shoot for Williams. Middlebury’s acceptance rate for regular decision will also be higher, so given that you have pretty good stats, I’d say shoot for what you really want for early decision, and know that you can always try for Middlebury regular decision. I’m guessing you’re from the Vermont/Western Mass area given your choices, but if not, do make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into. Both are pretty out there in the middle of nowhere. Cute, nice college towns to live in, but hard to get anywhere else. Williams actually it’d be easier to get to some more exciting (well, relatively) places like North Adams. Williams is also a bit “weirder” than Middlebury, as in, not a lot of general distribution requirements, your education there really is what you make of it. So if you go in with a specific plan and are proactive about it, you might be able to work with some econ or maybe stat profs there to pull together an independent concentration on… something more business oriented that will help with your future IB applications. And, like you said, the Williams name would hold a bit more prestige. You’ll just need to have a coherent story to tell for interviews about why Williams (or Middlebury, or wherever you end up) was the right place for you for college instead of a target school where you could take business classes. It sounds like you have that together mostly already.
For what it’s worth, Middlebury is well known and respected for its language departments/international and global studies, so if you’d be interested in majoring/minoring in something along those lines, I think you could make a strong case for it being relevant to international business/banking.
Wow! Thanks a lot. This was exactly what I was looking for: Some sort of outsider's perspective.
And no I am not from Vermont or Mass. I am from NJ, but I fell in love with these schools when I toured there.
What do you guys think, in general, of the recruitment at Middlebury? Even if I were to go there, would I still have good chance at making it in to IBD?
Williams, hands down. They have recruiting far and above what Midd has. You should also check out Amherst.
Yes, I understand that Williams has an edge in recruiting, but I'm just wondering if it is still possible to be recruited from Middlebury without any family connections if you work decently hard?
I’d say vaguely possible but A LOT tougher to be recruited from Midd. It’s going to be more on you to network hard, make connections with bankers, get people who will be on your side and push for you. If you poke around WSO you’ll be able to find AMAs/stories from people who broke into IB from total non-targets, or advice on how to approach cold-emailing people on LinkedIn and stuff like that when you get to that point.
From what you’ve been saying, I still think Williams is probably your best choice for early decision, but if you don’t get in/are putting together a list of other places you want to apply, I definitely second Amherst as a great option. They also cooperate with a bunch of schools in the area (called the Five College Consortium), so you could probably take a finance or accounting class at UMass Amherst. Possibly even join banking/business clubs at UMass/take advantage of some of their career development events. Same thing if you go to Swarthmore or Haverford or Bryn Mawr near Philadelphia, you could take classes at UPenn.
In case y’all can’t tell yet, I went to a small liberal arts college, so if you have more questions about making the most out of that kind of experience, feel free to PM me.
I'd definitely go to Williams. Also I'd look into Amherst if I were you. The kids are pretty weird but UMass is right there so that evens it out a bit. They also have pretty good financial aid.
PM me, I can speak more candidly there. You won't be killing your chances if you go to Midd, happy to give some insight.
If you want to do IB go Williams. Not even close for recruiting but you won't be locked out at Midd
Fugit corporis ducimus voluptate qui. Nemo adipisci minus sint quo pariatur. Possimus alias quo maxime velit qui aliquid. Alias in quaerat sed ut sed.
Porro sint earum modi vel consequatur. Incidunt consequuntur ullam sequi. Accusantium perspiciatis dolorem odio illo non quia non. Ea enim blanditiis suscipit maiores asperiores autem. Voluptatem accusantium temporibus omnis alias vel.
Qui quo ab maiores qui fugit nam ratione. Maiores perferendis quae vitae rerum.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...